Volvo Ocean Race Sailboat
Volvo 65 Sailboat and Steering Assembly SolidWorks Models
Group Members: Nicholas Whyte, Laila Abelseth, Ashley Elias, Tedi Hamitaj
Purpose
For our final Computer-Aided Design and Engineering project, my team and I modelled a functional Volvo 65 Sailboat and steering assembly. The purpose of the project was to gain SolidWorks experience with complex surfacing and dynamic assemblies. We then wrote a report about the modelling process and created and presented a Youtube tutorial teaching viewers how to model a moving rope in multiple planes. The final grade assigned for the project was an A.
Sailboat
The major challenge in this project was to model the complex surfaces of the hull, cabin top and keel of the Volvo 65 sailboat. Orthographic projections were used to provide a basic structure to the hull and were then traced with splines.
Figure 1. Planes along orthographic projection
Figure 2. Spline matching orthographic projection
Once basic splines and guide curves were traced from the orthographic projections, surface lofts were used to create the complex surface.
Figure 3. Surface loft of the hull
Similar approaches were taken for all of the other complex surfaces on the boat. The keel, winches and boom were all modelled and mated to the hull model in an assembly so that they could move.
Figure 4. Rotating keel
Steering Mechanism
A steering system including Rudder, Ship’s Wheel and pulley system was modelled for the assembly component of this project. This would be a similar system to that of the boat modelled for the complex surfaces component of this project. The assembly was done to scale and some components were taken from GrabCad.
To watch our Youtube tutorial:
Figure 5. Steering assembly with exploded pulleys